The x-ray beam in most computer tomography (CT) scanners is generally polychromatic. Yet, most of the currently used CT scanners generate images based upon data according to the energy integration nature of the detectors. These conventional detectors are called energy integrating detectors for acquiring energy integration X-ray data. On the other hand, photon counting detectors are configured to acquire the spectral nature of the x-ray source rather than the energy integration nature in acquiring data. To obtain the spectral nature of the transmitted X-ray data, the photo counting detectors split the x-ray beam into its component energies or spectrum bins and counts a number of photons in each of the bins. The use of the spectral nature of the x-ray source in CT is often referred to as spectral CT. Since spectral CT involves the detection of transmitted X-ray at two or more energy levels, spectral CT generally includes dual-energy CT by definition.
Spectral CT is advantageous over conventional CT. Spectral CT offers the additional clinical information inherent in the full spectrum of an x-ray beam. For example, spectral CT facilitates in discriminating tissues, differentiating between materials such as tissues containing calcium and iodine or enhancing the detection of smaller vessels. Among other advantages, spectral CT is also expected to reduce beam hardening artifacts. Spectral CT is also expected to increase accuracy in CT numbers independent of scanners.
Prior art attempts included the use of the conventional integrating detectors in implementing spectral CT. One attempt included dual sources and dual integrating detector units that are placed on the gantry at the predetermined angle with each other for acquiring the data as the gantry rotates around a patient. Another attempt included a single source that performs kV-switching and a single integrating detector unit that are placed on the gantry for acquiring the data as the gantry rotates around a patient. Yet another attempt included a single source and dual integrating detector units that are layered on the gantry for acquiring the data as the gantry rotates around a patient. All of these prior art attempts for spectral CT are not successful in substantially solving issues such as beam hardening, temporal resolution, noise, poor detector response, poor energy separation and so on for reconstructing clinically viable images.
Prior art has also attempted to replace the conventional integrating detectors by the photon counting detectors in implementing spectral CT. In general, photon counting detectors are costly and have a predetermined response rate. Although at least one experimental spectral CT system has been reported, the costs of high-rate photon counting detectors are prohibitive for a full-scale implementation. Despite some advancement in the photon counting detector technology, the currently available photon counting detectors still require solutions to implementation issues such as pile-up effects, scatter effects, spatial resolution, temporal resolution and dose efficiency. For the above reasons, it is still desired to invent spectral CT systems for improving the use of the photon counting detectors in view of the above issues.